A luminary in furniture design, Baughman revolutionized the industry with his work. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Baughman's designs seamlessly merged form and function, utilizing materials and techniques that would become staples of mid century modern design - chrome, stainless steel, Formica, glass and leather. He created a new visual vocabulary, influenced by Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, but singular in its American West Coast ease. In 1953, he began to work for Thayer Coggin, birthing iconic pieces like the “Scoop” lounge chair (1963). He designed for them until he died in 2003. 

Baughman was inducted into the Furniture Hall of Fame in 1987.